Life Among the Living: a LEGO Alpha Team fanfic
by TLFScarheart12
Summary: TeeVee gets a hold of a chip that allows him to function more like a living being does, something he's been curious about his entire life. At first he loves it but soon discovers that the chip is not safe.
1. Chapter 1: Curious or Naive?

TeeVee made his way through the base looking for ways to be helpful. He liked helping people. It was one of the few personality traits Cam had specifically programed into him. Most of the rest of his personality she had allowed TeeVee to develop on his own.

TeeVee knew himself inside and out and he knew even if he couldn't find people to help today, he'd certainly find questions to ask. He was very curious, especially when it came to living beings. He had often seen them do things that he didn't need to do. HE saw all the agents enjoy eating meals 3 times a day. He saw them sleep every night. Once in a while he'd see them take medicine.

Medicine…now there was something to think about. How come the agents needed to take medicine sometimes? Why didn't they need to do this as often as other things he'd observed?

He wandered into the training room and gym. Crunch was there lifting weights. TeeVee's screen flashed a smiling face to show his emotion. Then he went up to Crunch.

"Hello Crunch. Is there anything I can assist you with?" he asked.

Even though his voice was synthetic, it wasn't a monotone. It too could convey how the little robot was feeling.

"Not right now thanks," Crunch puffed.

TeeVee didn't immediately leave. Often if he waited long enough the agents would realize he wanted to know something and allow him to ask.

Sure enough a few minutes later crunch puts down his weights, took a drink of water and looked over noticing TeeVee had not yet left.

"Something on your mind?" He asked wiping his brow.

"Why do living people take medicine?" TeeVee asked.

"Sometimes our bodies don't work properly just like yours doesn't. It's called getting ill. However if we break cam can't take us apart and fix us like she can with you. So we have to take medicine to try to fix the problem from the outside," Crunch explained.

"How do you know when someone is ill?" TeeVee asked.

"It depends on what's wrong with them. Radia could probably give you more details there. However every time we can feel that something isn't right," Crunch answered.

"Radia knows a lot about getting ill? Does it happen to her more than the rest of you?" TeeVee asked a bit concerned.

"No, TeeVee. But she knows how to help us when something is wrong. That's why whenever we do get ill we're supposed to tell her we don't feel well," Crunch explained.

Charge came into the room then.

"TeeVee bothering you with his questions Crunch?" he asked, "Want me to help explain things?"

"It's not a bother to me," Crunch smiled, "TeeVee's just curious, aren't you, TeeVee?"

"Yes sir," TeeVee said excitedly, "I like learning."

"Naïve is the word I would have chosen," said Charge, "Not that it's a bad thing, but you've also got a bit of a child like mind with how little you understand."

"That's mean Charge!" Crunch said standing.

Crunch easily towered over charge but Charge seemed to show no fear.

"Like I said it's not a bad thing," Charge said, "Just something I hope TeeVee keeps in mind when he starts asking questions."

TeeVee decided he'd had enough of this conversation.

"Thanks for the information," he said politely to Crunch.

Then he left the room.

Charge had a point. He was naïve. He'd overheard other agents call him that before. But it had never occurred to him that the agents might get tired of his questions.

He came up to the main room and overheard Cam and Dash talking.

"So this will help TeeVee become more like a living being?" Dash asked.

TeeVee stopped listening.

"Yes. It will allow him to have the pleasures we do such as eating and dreaming. Also it will mean he can recharge his batteries without my help , and better understand the needs of the agents," said Cam.

"Nifty little thing," Dash complimented.

"Thank you!" Cam beamed.

"When are you going to install it?" dash asked.

"Oh, probably not for a while. A few months at least,"

An angry face flashed on TeeVee's screen and he stormed away.

"Cam's holding out on the key the answers to me questions! That's not fair!" He muttered to himself, "Well I'll show her."

Hours later when Cam was using the restroom Teevee slipped into her workshop and found the chip cam had told Dash about. Carefully, he inserted it into his systems using his mechanical arm.

Now the fun would start!


	2. Chapter 2: Tacos, Treadmills, and Dreams

TeeVee made his way upstairs to the kitchen where Flex was making dinner. He watched as Flex layered lettuce, beef, and cheese into taco shells. The other ingredients were left for the agents to put on as they wished.

TeeVee brought out one of his mechanical arms and put one of the tacos in where videos normally went in. He could not believe how good it tasted. The shell was crunchy and set pleasantly on his new taste receptors. The lettuce was crisp, cool, and refreshing. The savory and slightly spicy meat melted in his systems and the cheese complimented said meat perfectly.

TeeVee then noticed Flex staring at him his mouth open as wide as his eyes.

"What?" TeeVee asked helping himself to another taco.

"I…didn't know you could eat…" said Flex clearly shocked.

"I can now," said TeeVee a grin flashing on his face.

He began to eat yet another taco.

"So I see…Can you even taste?" Flex asked.

"YEP!" TeeVee replied excitedly.

He grabed three more and walked off munching on them happily.

Once he finished eating TeeVee went to the training room and looking around. His cameras caught the treadmill which he had seen the agents run on several times. They seemed to enjoy doing it while listening to music.

TeeVee turned on his inner radio and hopped on starting to run.

It was fun! TeeVee ran in step with the music as he had seen the other agents do. He must have done it for 4 hours before he noticed Dash came in.

"Hello Dash!" he said happily.

"Uh,…Hello TeeVee…what are you doing on the treadmill.? You don't have muscles to work out," Dash asked, "And anyway it's late don't you need to charge yourself up?"

"I wanted to try this out! It's fun!" TeeVee smiled.

"Well I think it's time you got off," said Dash, "I don't want you to wear out your battery before you get to Cam's workshop."

TeeVee though have shrugged if he had shoulders and did as Dash told him. He got off but suddenly had some trouble walking. He would have toppled over if dash had not grabbed and stabilized him.

"Thank you," TeeVee said politely.

"Are you alright?" Dash asked, "I've never seen you have trouble walking before."

"I think I'm alright," TeeVee replied.

"Cam's already gone to bed, but I think you should have you take a look at you in the morning, just in case." Dash said firmly.

"I will if I'm still malfunctioning in the morning," TeeVee promised.

"Do you need some help getting yourself to the workshop to plug in?" Dash asked sounding concerned.

"No thank you," TeeVee said a smile flashing on his screen.

"Well, if you're sure you're alright," Said Dash uncertainly, "Just keep in mind, just because you're the helper, doesn't mean you can never accept help. We care about you a lot."

"Alright Dash," TeeVee said.

"Goodnight TeeVee," said Dash and he left the room.

Once he was gone TeeVee stabled himself again the wall and leaned on it as he walked upstairs.

I don't need to charge up, he thought, I can sleep to reenergize myself. Then I can have dreams too.

He headed to the rec room where there was a couch. Normally it was used by the agents when reading, but most of the agents had gone to bed. TeeVee saw no problem in using it for the night.

He lay down making sure his malfunctioning legs were supported and found himself falling asleep.

His dreams were just as the agents had described it to him in the past. A place where there was no reality. Where there were no rules. No consequences. TeeVee had never felt such freedom and bravery.

He decided he quite liked being more like a living being. But then, he hadn't woken up yet.


	3. Chapter 3: Repairs

The next day, when TeeVee woke up, didn't feel like himself, and it didn't feel good. He felt like a bunch of yucky stuff was sitting in his gears slowly eating them. His legs still weren't working right and his thoughts were sluggish, like he needed his battery recharged.

"TeeVee?"

Radia's high pitched voice brought him more or less to his senses. He slowly lifted himself up to ask if she needed assistance, but when he tried to stand, his legs failed again. He would have fallen if Radia had not grabbed him.

"Are you alright?" Radia asked.

She looked and sounded very concerned.

"I think…" TeeVee said slowly remembering what Crunch had told him yesterday, "This is what living people mean…when they say…I don't feel good."

Radia was quick to put TeeVee on her back.

"Hang in there, TeeVee. Cam will fix you up," she said as she carried him to Cam's workshop

Cam turned when they come in.

"Cam, something is seriously wrong with TeeVee. He said he doesn't feel well and he can barely stand," Radia reported.

Cam nodded and asked sternly, "Done playing with technology I don't put in you?"

"How did you know?" TeeVee asked.

"Couldn't find the chip I was working on that gave you living being functions. Then at dinner Flex asked me why I had programed you to eat half a dozen tacos," Cam explained, "I didn't take long to put 2 and 2 together."

"I'm sorry Cam…" TeeVee said weakly as Radia let him down on cam's work table.

Cam's expression turned to a motherly one. "Other than eat tacos, what did you do yesterday after you put the chip in?"

"I ran on the treadmill…for several hours…then I went to sleep…on the couch…" TeeVee replied.

"Hmm…" Cam said thoughtfully, "Radia would running on a tread mill to long be damaging to ones legs?"

"It can damage the muscles in them, yes," Radia replied.

"I see. Write that on the blue print right there please." said Cam.

Radia did so.

"What's wrong with me?" TeeVee asked.

Cam sighed, "There was a reason I hadn't put the chip in yet TeeVee. It wasn't finished and it wasn't safe. It allowed some bodily functions to make you more human like, such as eating and dreaming. But there were others that had to go with them which I hadn't figured out yet."

"Like what?" TeeVee asked.

"Well for starters, you can't use the restroom. So you have no way to get rid of wastes that came from eating. All that waste from those tacos is sitting in your systems and it has to come out. Also, you sleeping doesn't recharge your battery which is why you're talking so slowly," explained Cam.

"I fell like…all of me is…running slowly…" said TeeVee.

"What about his legs?" Radia asked.

"No warning pain to tell him he's overdoing the exercise, and no way to self-repair what was damaged" Cam explained, "This is all fixable but it isn't going to be fun. First of all we need to get you to throw up the waste from those tacos."

"I'll get a bucket," Radia said heading to sickbay.

She came back with a bucket TeeVee had seen a few times when agents had what they called "Stomach flu," but TeeVee never knew what it was for.

Radia placed the bucket in front of him, and Cam helped TeeVee lean over it and pressed some buttons on him.

For what felt like a minute or so, but was probably only a few seconds TeeVee felt even worse. Like his systems were going in reverse. His tape dispenser opened and out came the waste Cam had mentioned. It was mushy, a brownish yellow color, and it tasted bitter. TeeVee didn't like this process at all. After a few minutes it was over though and TeeVee was already starting to feel more like his old self.

"I need to run this back to sickbay, and clean it out" said Radia, "Feel better TeeVee."

"Thank you…" TeeVee said trying to be polite.

Radia left the room, and Cam took out a screw driver and lay TeeVee screen down.

Teevee felt the back of his legs being opened up. It didn't hurt. Just made his exposed parts feel like a draft was going through them.

"There's a LOT of wear and tear down here. We'll need to replace these parts if you're going to be walking again," said Cam.

TeeVee couldn't see but he could feel Cam replacing his parts. It felt refreshing. Like his legs were newly built.

This took about an hour. Once cam finished she sat TeeVee back up. TeeVee was still feeling exceedingly sluggish from lack of battery power though.

"Just two more things, TeeVee," Cam told him, "I need to remove the chip, and we need to charge you up. Since you didn't charge up last night, you're going to be out until tomorrow,"

"What about…helping…the agents…today?" TeeVee asked.

"We'll manage. Right now it's important that you get better," said Cam as she pressed a button and removed the chip from TeeVee's circuits.

"Alright, time to shut you off. You'll feel a lot better when you wake up," said Cam.

TeeVee watched as Cam connected him to his charger and shut him off.

The next thing he know Cam was turning him back on. His internal clock told him 22 hours had passed.

"Welcome back TeeVee," said Cam, "How are you feeling."

"My body feels better, but the rest of me doesn't," said TeeVee hopping off the table and walking away sadly.

He wished Cam had left in a way for him to cry.


	4. Chapter 4: young

That day TeeVee wasn't himself. He went around offering assistance, but he didn't have his usual optimistic nature. Nor did he ask any questions. He just didn't feel like being himself. He didn't really feel like doing or being anything.

Finally, that afternoon he'd had enough. He went to the rec room and stood in a corner the top of his head leaning against the walls. He just felt sorry for himself. He'd come so close to fully understanding the pleasures of being a living being, and it was taken away from him in only a few hours. This was just awful.

TeeVee overheard Flex and Dash head into the rec room.

"But, it sure cured her hiccups!" Flex said, obviously ending a joke.

Dash laughed.

TeeVee didn't respond. He didn't feel like learning what hiccups were or what was so funny.

"Hey, look there," Flex said.

"What?...TeeVee?" Dash's voice responded.

TeeVee heard the two approach him, but he did not turn to face them.

"TeeVee, are you alright?" Flex asked.

TeeVee didn't reply.

"Cam said you were malfunctioning badly yesterday. Are you sure you should be out of her workshop?" Dash asked.

"I'm in good condition now," said TeeVee.

"You sure? You don't seem like yourself," Dash said sounding concerned.

"What's going on?" Cam's voice broke through.

"I think something's wrong with TeeVee," Flex replied.

"Can you guys just please leave me alone?" TeeVee asked, trying to be polite.

"I think I know what's wrong guys. If you'll excuse us," said Cam.

TeeVee heard Dash and Flex leave, and Cam approach. TeeVee had no doubt in his mind that they would tell the others about how he was acting. Frankly, he didn't care. At least now they'd see him as something other than Naïve.

Cam sat on the floor next to TeeVee.

TeeVee waited for her to speak.

"TeeVee, I'm sorry I had to take that chip out of you. To be honest, I didn't realize how much you wanted to be like us," said Cam.

"Aren't I supposed to apologize? I stole the chip," said TeeVee.

"I already know you're sorry," said Cam, "And, I'm not going to punish you for this. I think the self-damage was punishment enough."

"I just wanted to understand more. To enjoy the things you guys enjoy. When I'm like this I'm as much of a black sheep as I am naïve," Said TeeVee sadly.

"Naïve? Who told you that?" Cam asked.

"Charge," TeeVee replied.

"Should have guessed…" Cam mumbled.

After a few minutes Cam said, "TeeVee I'm not going to stop working on the chip because of all this. Eventually, it will be safe enough to use on a regular basis. For now, though, there's something you should know,"

"What?" TeeVee asked.

"You're not naïve. You're just young," Cam said kindly.

"What?" TeeVee asked confused.

"You're only a few years old. Even living beings don't understand the world around them at that age. All of us agents were as unknowing as you were at one point. In fact, you know more than most living beings do at your age because of your programing," Cam explained.

TeeVee turned. He was in complete shock.

"Really?" he asked.

"Really," Cam said, "Like I said, I'll keep working on the chip. But, until then keep asking questions. Learn what you can. There's no way I can program EVERYTHING into you. You need to grow and learn like the rest of us do."

TeeVee felt better at hearing that. He probably would have hugged Cam if his arm came out of his side rather than just under his screen.

"Thank you Cam," he said sincerely

A smile flashed upon his screen.


End file.
